The Quantified Scientist - Powerbeats Pro 2 - GREAT Heart Rate (In-depth Scientific Review)
The Power Beats Pro 2 Wireless earbuds provide surprisingly accurate heart rate tracking, particularly during indoor cycling and weightlifting, where they outperform many other devices. However, they face significant usability challenges, especially when used with Apple devices. The earbuds pair easily with iPhones, but the heart rate tracking functionality often becomes disabled, requiring users to switch to Android for better performance. The lack of a comprehensive user manual adds to the frustration, though third-party guides are available. Despite these issues, the earbuds perform well in heart rate tracking during cycling and weightlifting, with minimal dropouts and good correlation with reference devices. However, they struggle with running due to cadence lock issues, where the device confuses running cadence with heart rate. Battery life is decent, lasting nearly 9 hours with continuous use. Overall, while the heart rate tracking is commendable, the usability issues, particularly on iPhones, may deter potential users.
Key Points:
- Power Beats Pro 2 offer accurate heart rate tracking, especially for indoor cycling and weightlifting.
- Usability issues are prominent on Apple devices, with better performance on Android.
- Heart rate tracking is disabled on iPhones, requiring manual Bluetooth pairing on Android.
- The earbuds struggle with running due to cadence lock, confusing cadence with heart rate.
- Battery life is nearly 9 hours, but usability issues may deter users.
Details:
1. 🎧 Power Beats Pro 2: Promising but Flawed
- The Power Beats Pro 2 earbuds have surprisingly good heart rate tracking, working directly from the ear area while maintaining good audio quality.
- There are significant usability issues; multiple reviewers, including DC Rainmaker and Desfit, report difficulties in connecting to fitness apps.
- The product, designed for Apple devices, functions better on Android in certain aspects, such as hardware tracking.
- There is no user manual provided, only a QR code leading to a generic guide, which has been criticized as unhelpful.
- DC Rainmaker independently created a more useful guide than the manufacturer-provided resources.
- Despite good heart rate tracking, the product feels unfinished and challenging to use.
- Usability issues include a lack of Bluetooth connectivity with iPhone for heart rate tracking; this works better with Android devices.
- The process to enable Bluetooth mode for heart tracking is cumbersome and timing-sensitive, often switching to another mode instead.
- The PPG heart rate sensors are located on a forward-facing part of the earbuds, though the exact algorithm for heart rate calculation is unclear.
- Reviewers suggest improvements in user guidance and cross-platform functionality to enhance the product's appeal.
- The product exhibits potential with its accurate heart rate monitoring, but usability improvements are necessary for broader adoption.
2. 🚴 Indoor Cycling: Accurate Heart Rate Tracking
- The Polar H10 ECG chest strap was used as a reference due to its reliability in measuring heart rate.
- The heart rate measurements from the Power Beats Pro 2 were compared against the Polar H10 during four types of exercises, focusing here on indoor cycling.
- Three indoor cycling sessions were conducted with Power Beats Pro 2, showing a strong correlation (r = 0.98) with the reference device, indicating high accuracy.
- The plot of heart rate data showed most points aligning closely with the reference, except for a few minor deviations.
- Detailed analysis of individual sessions showed nearly perfect overlap between Power Beats Pro 2 and the reference device, with only minor discrepancies in detecting quick changes in heart rate.
- In comparison with other devices, Power Beats Pro 2 ranks among top performers, with correlation values above 0.9, close to high-end devices like Apple Watches and Pixel Watch 3.
- Power Beats Pro 2 is competitive with high-performing devices, placing it in the second tier, close to first-tier heart rate tracking devices.
3. 🏃 Outdoor Running: Cadence Lock Issues
3.1. Cadence Lock Issues
3.2. Comparison with Other Devices
4. 🚵 Long Ride: Battery Life & Performance
- The Power Beats Pro 2 lasted a little under 9 hours during a long bike ride, where both heart rate monitoring and audiobook listening were active.
- The ride started at 8:10 a.m. and the earbuds died close to 5:00 p.m., indicating a battery life of just under 9 hours.
- The performance occurred in cold weather conditions, with temperatures around freezing, which could affect both device performance and heart rate tracking.
- The earbuds were used at the most energy-efficient mode without transparency mode, and the advertised battery life is about 10 hours.
- Cold weather is known to potentially reduce battery efficiency, which might explain the slight decrease from the advertised 10 hours.
- Using the earbuds in energy-efficient mode helped maximize battery life under these conditions.
5. 🏋️ Weightlifting: Superior Performance
5.1. Heart Rate Monitoring Accuracy
5.2. Device Performance and Battery Life
6. 🔍 Overall Evaluation and Recommendations
- The Power Beats Pro 2 excel in heart rate tracking during weightlifting, surpassing 99% to possibly 100% of smartwatches, as they do not suffer from wrist tension issues that affect other devices.
- In a weightlifting session, Power Beats Pro 2 showed high accuracy, with performance better than 83% of devices for spinning and 85% for biking, though only 65th percentile for running.
- The Power Beats Pro 2 are amongst the top heart rate tracking devices with a correlation of 0.7 or higher, outperformed by some Apple Watches in correlation but not in consistent detection.
- For weightlifting, they are the best non-ECG device, reaching the 96th percentile, with only 4% of devices theoretically better, primarily Apple Watches which have detection issues.
- They perform well for spinning and biking but are not as effective for running, likely due to cadence issues.
- Usability on Android is acceptable but has issues on iPhone, raising concerns about long-term support and updates.
- Recommendations include using Power Beats Pro 2 for non-running activities until firmware issues are resolved.